Local and union officials support an imminent appeal to the Supreme Court of the FCC’s 2018 small-cell orders Monday. Many localities were expected to have challenged the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision upholding much of the FCC orders by Monday’s deadline (see 2102080058). Local governments' expected cert petition wasn't yet available.
Adam Bender
Adam Bender, Senior Editor, is the state and local telecommunications reporter for Communications Daily, where he also has covered Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. He has won awards for his Warren Communications News reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists, Specialized Information Publishers Association and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Bender studied print journalism at American University and is the author of dystopian science-fiction novels. You can follow Bender at WatchAdam.blog and @WatchAdam on Twitter.
A Washington state bill to implement national 988 got support from Senate Behavioral Health Subcommittee Chair Manka Dhingra (D) at a Friday hearing. The panel heard virtual testimony on HB-1477 after the House passed the measure 78-18 Wednesday. Dhingra said the bill is “very important” and she's pleased it got bipartisan support in the other chamber. Sponsor Rep. Tina Orwall (D) said it could have more impact reducing suicide rates than any previous bills she has endorsed. HB-1477 “will help save lives,” testified Washington Department of Health’s Daisye Orr. The latest version would impose a 30 cent monthly fee on wireless, wireline and VoIP lines starting Oct. 1, increasing to 50 cents Jan. 1, 2023. CTIA supports designating 988 but is concerned the amount is too high, especially combined with other bill taxes, said Vice President-State Legislative Affairs Gerry Keegan. The fee could be reduced by narrowing what it covers to direct costs of 988 call routing and taking and call center personnel, he said. “This requires money, and it requires effort,” said Abraham Dairi, whose wife died by suicide last year. Calling 911 is ineffective and can damage potential suicide victims more, he said: “People are dying, and we're failing them every single day.” The subcommittee is scheduled to vote March 26.
A federal judge declined to force San Francisco to issue permits for T-Mobile infrastructure but barred the city from “imposing penalties or in any way preventing T-Mobile from proceeding with installations” for applications deemed granted because the city didn’t act in 60 days. In a Friday order (in a Pacer), Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco partly granted the carrier’s motions for summary judgment and preliminary injunction. Illston disagreed with the city that the Spectrum Act violates the 10th Amendment’s anti-commandeering doctrine saying Congress may regulate only individuals. T-Mobile wanted the court to force San Francisco to issue a permit for deemed-granted applications, but Illston disagreed the law requires governments to do anything more than accept a carrier’s deemed-granted notice and not interfere with installations. "The FCC Spectrum Act only prohibits State or local governments from denying qualifying applications,” said Illston, citing a 2015 decision by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Montgomery County, Maryland v. FCC. T-Mobile and the city didn’t comment now.
Frontier Communications expects to exit bankruptcy once it reaches an “acceptable resolution” with the California Public Utilities Commission on an eleventh-hour revision to the agency's conditional OK, a Frontier spokesperson said Friday: Commissioners Thursday “voted to approve Frontier’s emergence from Chapter 11 but included a provision in the approval order that was recognized as problematic by all settling parties.” Frontier, Communications Workers of America, The Utility Reform Network and CPUC Public Advocates Office filed a joint notice of rejection hours after the CPUC voted 5-0 to adopt a revised order clearing the deal, as expected (see 2103180064). The CPUC should resolve the issue at this Thursday’s meeting, the parties said. “Time is of the essence to permit Frontier to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy by March 30, 2020.” The parties object to revising the requirement that the company build fiber-to-the-premise to 150,000 locations to specify that those locations should be only in places where the telco is the only service provider, with at least 10% in rural areas: “Ordering Paragraph 4(o)(i) would add a material condition not contemplated by the Parties’ Settlement Agreement.” Revised terms aren’t “supported by the record, are not feasible, would add substantial incremental costs to Frontier’s $1.75 billion capital expenditure commitment ... and would upset the balance achieved by the Parties’ Settlement Agreement by limiting the buildout of fiber facilities to thousands of low income households, communities of color and rural households throughout Frontier’s diverse serving territory merely because they have access to one other broadband option that may or may not meet their needs,” they said. They would support a change saying at least 10% of the planned fiber buildout must be in locations where Frontier is the only fixed broadband internet access service provider. The agency didn’t comment Friday.
Frontier Communications could soon emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy after getting final regulatory OK Thursday (see 2103150030). A late change to the proposed decision might cause turbulence. California Public Utilities Commissioners voted 5-0 at their virtual meeting to clear the reorganization -- with conditions. The order is a "critical moment of really ensuring that Frontier be a better company for California,” said Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves.
The New Mexico legislature passed a broadband bill that would allow Sacred Winds Communications to collect a state rural telecom subsidy (see 2103150050). The House voted 66-1 Wednesday for SB-204; the Senate earlier passed the bill unanimously. In other state broadband votes, the Michigan House voted 59-50 Wednesday for HB-4210 to exempt broadband equipment from certain property taxes in underserved areas. The Senate passed the similar SB-46 last month. A $250 million Kentucky broadband funding bill (HB-320) headed to Gov. Andy Beshear (D) after Tuesday passing the House 94-0 and the Senate 36-0. Beshear plans to review bills over the next 10 days, but he has 148 bills before him, after getting 111 from the legislature Monday and Tuesday, a spokesperson said. The governor sought $50 million for last-mile broadband in his budget proposal. The Michigan and New Mexico governors didn’t comment Thursday.
Altice will spend nearly $72 million in New York state to increase resiliency and resolve a notice of apparent violation for its Hurricane Isaias response (see 2102110066). Public service commissioners voted 4-0 to adopt the settlement at their virtual meeting Thursday. The cable operator agreed to spend about $68.5 million over two years in capital and operational storm-related remedial measures, including network upgrades and additional staff and training, and give $3.4 million in customer credits for outages, said Department of Public Service Investigations and Enforcement Director Joseph Suich. Interim PSC Chair John Howard, at his first meeting in that role, urged Congress to “grant all states the ability to regulate data services as utility services, as we now know ... how dependent we are on data and internet services.” Storms are tough and “lack of communication” is “totally unacceptable,” said Commissioner Tracey Edwards. "Altice has been working with the NY PSC since Storm Isaias last summer to jointly examine opportunities for enhancements in how we communicate and engage with our customers, communities, and public officials during severe weather events," a spokesperson emailed. "We look to ensure that the long-term service investments we're making continue to improve the customer experience and benefit all our tri-state area customers." Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said the settlement makes clear that telecoms "have an obligation to prepare for severe weather and to develop robust storm-response programs, and if they fail to adequately do that job we will hold them accountable and force them to change."
Frontier Communications got its final regulatory OK to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The California Public Utilities Commission voted 5-0 at its Thursday virtual meeting to clear the proposed reorganization with conditions.
California’s privacy law author criticized Virginia’s new statute at a New Jersey legislative hearing Monday. The second major state privacy bill, signed this month by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D), has “many loopholes” that effectively codify existing business practices, Californians for Consumer Privacy’s Alastair Mactaggart told the Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology Committee. Mactaggart, who proposed the California Consumer Privacy Act and the newer California Privacy Rights Act, urged lawmakers to update CCPA-based measures to the CPRA. CTIA, which prefers a national law, warned against basing a New Jersey law on CPRA because it’s “still unsettled,” said Davis Wright attorney Nancy Libin. The Virginia law, while also problematic, is at least less burdensome for businesses, she said. New Jersey should align with Virginia to provide uniform rules for businesses, agreed Internet Association Legal and Policy Counsel Alexandra McLeod. New Jersey lawmakers are returning to privacy after COVID-19 derailed efforts last year, said committee Chair Andrew Zwicker (D). The panel heard testimony but didn’t vote on Zwicker’s A-3283, which would provide an opt-in right and establish a state data protection office; A-3255, to require businesses notify customers about collection and sale of personal information and give customers an opt-in right; and A-5448, to require websites notify about collection and disclosure and allows customers to opt out. Harvard Berkman Klein Center affiliate Salome Viljoen supported A-3283 setting up a special office but suggested adding a private right of action and warned not to exclude third parties not covered in the current bill. Electronic Frontier Foundation Legislative Activist Hayley Tsukayama, also urging a private right, cautioned that the proposed office would need adequate funding. TechNet is optimistic about soon getting a federal law, but if New Jersey goes ahead, attorney general enforcement is better than allowing private suits, said Executive Director-Northeast Chris Gilrein. Opting out is more difficult for consumers than opting in, said Consumer Reports Policy Analyst Maureen Mahoney.
A proposed update to New Mexico’s rural telecom subsidy will soon be up for a House floor vote, after unanimously clearing the chamber’s Appropriations and Finance Committee Monday. SB-204 would update New Mexico's Rural Telecom Act to let carriers that didn't exist before 1999 get access reduction support payments, which would make Sacred Winds Communications eligible, said a summary. The bill also passed unanimously through the Senate and the House Commerce Committee earlier this month. It would improve broadband in one of the state’s least-connected areas and is backed by the Navajo Nation, said Sen. Michael Padilla (D) at the livestreamed hearing. Treat all telecom carriers the same, testified Matejka Santillanes, New Mexico Exchange Carrier Group executive director. She joined the Navajo Nation Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, Microsoft and other business groups supporting SB-204.